Italian Study on Naltrexone

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More on LDN...

(The amt used in the study correlates to about 10mg, 20mg and 30mg for a 45#

child

every other day, which is a lot more than the doses currently being used

with LDN, and LDN is also used every night, but still interesting stuff...)

Opioid-immune interactions in autism: behavioural and immunological

assessment

during a double-blind treatment with naltrexone.

Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1996;32(3):351-9.

Scifo R, Cioni M, Nicolosi A, Batticane N, Tirolo C, Testa N, Quattropani MC,

Morale MC, Gallo F, Marchetti B.

Servizio di Psichiatria, Istituto OASI per lo Studio del Ritardo Mentale e

l'Involuzione Cerebrale, Troina (Enna), Italy.

The emerging concept of opioid peptides as a new class of chemical

messengers of

the neuroimmune axis and the presence of a number of immunological

abnormalities

in infantile autism prompted us to correlate biological (hormonal and

immunological) determinations and behavioural performances during treatment

with

the potent opiate antagonist, naltrexone (NAL). Twelve autistic patients

ranging

from 7 to 15 years, diagnosed according to DSM-III-R, entered a double-blind

crossover study with NAL at the doses of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg every 48

hours.

The behavioural evaluation was conducted using the specific BSE and CARS

rating

scales. NAL (nalatrexone) treatment produced a significant reduction of the

autistic

symptomatology in seven ( " responders " ) out of 12 children. The behavioural

improvement was accompanied by alterations in the distribution of the major

lymphocyte subsets, with a significant increase of the T-helper-inducers

(CD4+CD8-) and a significant reduction of the T-cytotoxic-suppressor

(CD4-CD8+)

resulting in a normalization of the CD4/CD8 ratio. Changes in natural killer

cells and activity were inversely related to plasma beta-endorphin levels.

It is

suggested that the mechanisms underlying opioid-immune interactions are

altered

in this population of autistic children and that an immunological screening

may

have prognostic value for the pharmacological therapy with opiate

antagonists.

Publication Types:

Clinical Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial

PMID: 9028057 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]